Sydney Rock Oysters

QX in Kalang oysters

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) already has quarantined the movement of oysters to other estuaries.

A spokesperson for the Department told the Courier-Sun that the DPI was working with Bellinger/Kalang oyster farmers “to manage a recent outbreak of the Sydney rock oyster disease, QX”.

“An oyster farmer from the Kalang River notified NSW DPI of mortalities in farmed Sydney rock oysters earlier this month.

“Samples from the Kalang River were sent to the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute for testing, and the presence of QX infection in those samples has been confirmed,” the spokesperson said.

She said oysters were affected by QX when the infective organism, Marteilia sydneyi, goes through a sporing stage and destroys the oyster’s digestive gland.

The oyster then dies.

(QX stands for Queensland Unknown the title given to this disease prior to the discovery of the organism that causes it. In 1976 Marteilia sydneyi was formally described as the cause of QX.)

Asked if it could spread to the Bellinger River, the spokesperson said the NSW DPI had quarantined movements of stock and oyster farming infrastructure to other estuaries. “We are also currently undertaking surveillance in the Bellinger/Kalang River and of stock moved from the Bellinger/Kalang River in 2011 to other estuaries.”

“Oyster samples taken from the Bellinger River have so far tested negative for QX.

“Farmers are considering voluntary movement restrictions in the Bellinger/Kalang river systems until further sampling is completed.

How would it have got into the river?

“The QX organism is present in most of NSW’s oyster producing estuaries without causing mortalities in oysters. Only some NSW estuaries have reported oyster mortalities attributed to QX.

“QX is caused by a protozoan (i.e. ‘single-celled’) parasite, which has no effect on humans.

Will it close the river to oyster production and sales?

“NSW DPI is currently working closely with the NSW Food Authority and local oyster farmers to ensure oysters sold meet safety standards, however there is currently no stock from the river being sold as it is out of season.

Papa Goose – Review Number 2… « farfromfamished.com

Let’s get straight to the food. Our pre-entrée entrée was oysters. On offer were Sydney Rock, SA’s Coffin Bay and Barilla Bay from Tassie. As a staunch ex-pat South Australian, I opted for the Coffin Bay, as did my dining partner. Although our choice was excellent; freshly shucked and tasting of the sea, served with nothing but a cheek of lemon, the chef subtly teased us with a ‘bonus’ oyster… the Sydney Rock. It was amazing! Creamier, less minerally and a little less salty than our half a dozen of Coffin Bay. But of course, the problem with Sydney Rock oysters are that you need a lot of them. For entrée, we both continued the seafood theme and selected the char grilled sardines with red cabbage, pine nuts, raisins, parsley and pomegranate. My dining partner requested not to have pine nuts and went on to ‘enlighten’ me and our waiter of something called “Pine Mouth”, where a bitter, metallic taste develops in your mouth and lasts for a few days, rendering your palette useless. Google it… It seems legit. I didn’t care though, I wanted mine with pine nuts and I’m fine today. Anyway, the sardines were great, if not a little on the dry side. A drizzle of olive oil would have made a world of difference. The pig came in the form of two generous nuggets of neck (given the size of the pieces, I’m scared to think how big the rest of this beast was), which had been slow cooked at 57 degrees (or thereabouts) for something like 12 hours… or a week, I can’t remember. It was then pan fried skin side down to form a crisp, glassy and delicious crackling. There was an unctuous, sticky jus to moisten the meltingly tender meat and a daub of puree (cauliflower, perhaps?), which both complimented the piggy goodness. To take my mind off it, I tucked into the Granny Smith Apple Pie with Maple Ice Cream. The pie was nothing like my Nan (coincidentally, her surname was Smith) used to make (hers were rubbish). The not overly-sweet, tart apple was encased in what I think was a suet-based pastry… light as a feather and crisp. The accompanying maple ice cream added the extra sweetness required, which was just right. A cracker of a dessert and I’m still not upset that I haven’t had a crack at the Eskimo’s Pie. Maybe next time.

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